What Does the Bible Say About Healing?
The Biblical Case for Healing
Written by Lara Buchanan, speaker at OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics
In 2024, a story appeared in the news about a teenage boy who was posthumously named a saint by Pope Francis. In Catholic tradition, sainthood is associated with verified miracles of healing attributed to prayer. Around the same time, I found myself re-watching House, the medical drama in which Dr Gregory House—played with biting scepticism by Hugh Laurie—regularly clashes with spiritual or supernatural explanations for illness. In one episode, House confronts a young man who believes he has the power to heal. The show, as usual, exposes bad thinking, but it also leaves even its arch-sceptic asking uncomfortable questions about a closed, purely material view of reality.
That tension captures something very real in our culture. Some people are convinced there is more to reality than matter alone; others dismiss claims of healing as superstition or manipulation. Because Christianity claims to be concerned with truth, it must take questions about healing seriously. Are miracles possible? Do they still happen? And if God heals, why not everyone?
To explore these questions, we need to begin with what the Bible actually says about healing, and how Christians hold that teaching alongside the undeniable reality of ongoing suffering.
God Revealed as a God Who Heals
Throughout the Bible, in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, God is revealed as one who interacts with his creation and makes himself known as a healer. In Exodus, shortly after Israel’s escape from slavery, God identifies himself as “the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26). Healing, then, is not an optional extra; it is part of God’s revealed character.
The Bible also looks ahead to a future in which healing is complete and permanent. In God’s presence, there will be no more sickness, crying, or death (Revelation 21:4). What can feel more challenging is the biblical claim that this future reality sometimes breaks into the present. Healing, according to Scripture, is both a promise for the future and, at times, an experience in the here and now.
This theme runs from Genesis to Revelation. After the fall, God promises to confront the source of suffering and evil (Genesis 3:15). The Bible ends with evil finally defeated and creation restored (Revelation 12; 21). In between, healing is a signpost—never the whole story, but a glimpse of what God intends to make whole.
An Overarching Biblical Framework
Across the Bible, several themes help frame its teaching on healing:
- First, God is not the author of sickness, suffering, or death, and Scripture repeatedly shows his grief in the face of them (Genesis 3; John 11).
- Second, God enters into suffering and can empathise with it (Isaiah 53; Matthew 27:46).
- Third, God promises to act decisively to undo suffering (Matthew 1:21).
- Fourth, his concern is especially directed toward the afflicted (Psalm 34:18).
- Fifth, God promises to work even suffering for good (Romans 8:28).
- Sixth, ultimate healing awaits in God’s presence (Revelation 21:4).
- Finally, encountering Jesus means encountering the author of life. Christians believe this brings spiritual renewal now, and sometimes physical healing too, though never fully this side of eternity.
Miraculous Healing in Scripture
The Bible also records specific healings. In the Old Testament, prophets like Elijah and Elisha pray for God’s intervention. In 1 Kings 17, Elijah cries out to God on behalf of a widow whose son has died, and the boy is restored to life. Notably, this comes after Elijah himself has experienced both miraculous provision and scarcity, reinforcing that God’s purposes are not simplistic or mechanical.
In the Gospels, Jesus heals many: the blind, the paralysed, those with leprosy, and even the dead. In Mark 5, a woman suffering for twelve years is healed by touching Jesus in faith. Later in the same chapter, Jesus raises a twelve-year-old girl from death. These stories are not marginal; they sit at the heart of how Jesus’ ministry is portrayed.
Even non-Christian historians noticed this. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus refers to Jesus as a worker of extraordinary deeds. [1] Bart Ehrman, an agnostic New Testament scholar, writes: “Whatever you think about the philosophical possibility of miracles, it’s clear that Jesus was widely reputed to have done them.”[2]
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Book of Acts records his followers praying for healing in his name. In Acts 3, Peter prays for a man lame from birth, who immediately walks, leaps, and praises God. Similar accounts continue into the early centuries of the church.
Healing and the Kingdom of God
Jesus taught that the “kingdom of God” had arrived. In his inaugural sermon, he quoted Isaiah 61, describing the Spirit anointing him to bring good news, freedom, and healing. He then sent his followers out to pray for the sick, and they returned astonished at what they had seen (Luke 10).
Yet Jesus also warned them not to fixate on power or experience. The deepest healing, he insisted, is reconciliation with God. Physical healing matters, but it is not the ultimate goal.
The New Testament reflects this balance. James instructs Christians to pray for the sick, expecting God to act (James 5:14–15), while also acknowledging that suffering persists. Many Christians today believe God still heals in response to prayer, while others understand biblical miracles as tied to specific moments in salvation history. All agree that God remains a God who heals, even when healing does not come as hoped.
Contemporary Claims and Caution
Claims of healing continue worldwide. Researchers such as Craig Keener have documented medically supported cases of recovery following prayer, including verified diagnoses and follow-up evidence [3]. Missionaries like Heidi and Roland Baker also report numerous healings in Mozambique[4].
At the same time, caution is essential. History—and sadly, the present—contains examples of manipulation and abuse within healing ministries. Christianity must never exploit vulnerability or promise guaranteed cures. Faithfulness requires honesty, humility, and a refusal to misuse Scripture. Writers such as Tim Keller, Philip Yancey, and Simon Ponsonby model how to pray expectantly while holding a realistic theology of suffering.
Holding Healing and Suffering Together
In my own life, I have witnessed what appears to be a remarkable healing: a confirmed bone fracture that disappeared within days after prayer, documented by X-rays and acknowledged by a doctor with no alternative explanation. I share this not as proof, but as a reason to pause and consider.
The Bible never promises universal healing now. It does promise God’s presence, compassion, and ultimate restoration. Healing, when it occurs, is a sign—never a demand, never a guarantee, and never a measure of someone’s faith.
Suffering and uncertainty remain unavoidable. But the Christian message is not about avoiding pain at all costs; it is about a God who walks with us through it. That invitation—to relationship, hope, and honest expectation—is at the heart of what the Bible says about healing.
References
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 18.63.
- Bart Ehrman, A Brief Introduction to the New Testament, OUP USA, 2004
- Craig Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts, Baker Academic, 2011
- Heidi Baker discusses healing miracles on CBN See also, Heidi Baker and Roland Baker, Expecting Miracles: True Stories of God’s Supernatural Power and How You Can Experience It, Chosen Books, 2007
Lara Buchanan